[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 38739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15426]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0299]


Standard Format and Content for Post-Shutdown Decommissioning 
Activities Report

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.185, ``Standard Format and 
Content for Post-shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report.'' This 
guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable for 
use in complying with the Commission's requirements regarding the 
submission of a post-shutdown decommissioning activities report 
(PSDAR).

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0299 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access information related to this document, which the NRC 
possesses and is publically available, using the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0299. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.185 is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML13140A038. The regulatory analysis may be found 
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13140A039.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Shepherd, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, telephone: 301-
415-6712, email: [email protected] or Edward O'Donnell, Office of 
Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-251-7455, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information such as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The NRC issued Revision 1 of RG 1.185 with a temporary 
identification as Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1272, in the Federal 
Register on December 19, 2012 (77 FR 75198), for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on February 19, 2013, 
and the NRC did not receive any comments. This revision updates RG 
1.185 to reflect lessons learned since its original issuance in 2000. 
It identifies the type of information that the PSDAR must contain and 
establishes a standard format for the PSDAR that the NRC staff 
considers acceptable. The PSDAR is required of nuclear power plant 
licensees before or within two years of permanent cessation of 
operations. The report must include a description of the licensee's 
planned decommissioning activities, a schedule for the accomplishment 
of significant milestones, an estimate of expected costs, and a 
discussion of the licensee's evaluation of the environmental impacts 
associated with site-specific decommissioning activities.
    Revision 1 of RG 1.185 represents the NRC staff's current guidance 
for future users and applications. Earlier versions of this regulatory 
guide, however, continue to be acceptable for those licensees whose 
licensing basis includes earlier versions of this regulatory guide, 
absent a licensee-initiated change to its licensing basis. Additional 
information on the NRC staff's use of this revised regulatory guide 
with respect to both current and future users and applications is set 
forth in the ``Implementation'' section of the revised regulatory 
guide.

II. Congressional Review Act

    This regulatory guide is a rule as defined in the Congressional 
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and 
Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the 
Congressional Review Act.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final regulatory guide does not constitute 
backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is not 
otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 
part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of this 
regulatory guide, the NRC has no current intention to impose this 
regulatory guide on holders of current operating licenses or combined 
licenses.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of June, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2013-15426 Filed 6-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P